Projects

Placer County ‘s Wildfire Protection and Biomass Utilization Program is focusing a large portion of it efforts on thinning forests to reduce wildfire risks and to make them more resilient to other potential issues such as insects and diseases. At the same time, Placer County has embarked on a local carbon trading program development initiative so as to capitalize on the use of the biomass in energy projects which will displace the use of fossil fuel and create carbon credits for the County to sell on the open market or to existing carbon credit programs.

TSS will be assisting Placer County with the development of this program in several ways. These include:

• Determine greenhouse gas emissions from the Placer County Government Center at Burton Creek (Burton Creek) biomass to energy project, using process operations selected from the biomass to energy conversion technology assessment. Emissions will include those from the biomass removal, processing (chipping/grinding), and transport.
• Quantify the increased rate of carbon sequestration in the treated forest as the result of the Burton Creek sponsored forest biomass fuel thinning activities. Determine projected GHG emissions offset credits from the Burton Creek project, from the results of the previous tasks.
• Develop procedures to validate the offset credits, which will involve working closely with the Placer County Air Pollution Control District (PCAPCD), California Air Resources Board (CARB), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to insure that the offsets are quantifiable, real, permanent, enforceable and surplus.
• Assist in assessing the feasibility of establishing a local Placer County Carbon Offset Credit Trading market, with emphasis on activities including forest fuel thinning for improved forest health, and diversion of biomass to energy conversion that would have otherwise been consumed in the field.

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